Surprising Things That Might Spark Your Interest in Physics
Made up of possibly two of the most difficult subjects in school – science and math – physics can often feel like a grind. As such, you may find yourself in need of physics tuition to keep you up to speed. If you need something to motivate you to be interested more in your O Level Physics tuition classes, here are a few fun facts that should pique your curiosity.
1. You Can Freeze and Boil Water at the Same Time
There is a point where all three states are in equilibrium, or to put simply, the three phases – gas, liquid, and solid – all occur at the same time. This is what's referred to as the "triple point". If you reach that point, you can boil and freeze water at the same time.
2. The Human Body Can Light Up a 100-Watt Bulb
Did you know that a human body constantly radiates around 1000 watts of heat and absorbs around 900 watts of heat? This drops down considerably if you start wearing the clothes, but it's still there. To put that into perspective, the amount of heat flowing out from the human body is more than enough to power a 100-watt bulb for quite some time.
3. We're All Living Inside a Computer
Based on a paper published by an MIT professor, the Universe that we all are living in is basically the equivalent to a computer. He calculated that the amount of data or information that the universe has is around 10^120 bits, which is a lot.
4. Things Travel Faster Than Light
At a constant 300,000 kilometers a second in a vacuum, the speed of light is extremely fast, if not the fastest in the known universe. The only problem is that it doesn't travel through a vacuum all the time. If you put light through water, the photons move much slower (at around three-quarters of its original speed). In nuclear reactors, an insulating medium slows light down just enough that the other particles around it actually end up travelling faster than light.
5. Black Holes Aren't Black
Black holes are dark, but they're technically not black. They look black simply because their gravitational pulls are so strong that even light cannot escape. They even glow and give off a sort of visible light when observed. IP physics tuition looks at these curious elements.
So maybe they should be called "not-so-dark holes" from now on?
6. You Gain Weight The Faster You Move
The faster you move, the more weight you gain. That's the truth. But, before you say this as an excuse to not exercise, keep in mind that this only applies if you can travel close to the speed of light. This was first suggested by Einsten, and is often covered in H2 Physics tuition in Singapore. Physics is weird and is often confusing, but if you go to an A level physics tuition and further, you'll learn that physics is actually far more interesting than you realise.